This invention relates to a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance suitable for recovering a liquid substance such as fuel oil from ships sunk or stranded due to marine accidents and other places and relates to a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance capable of heating a liquid substance such as fuel oil more easily than in the past by high-frequency induction heating to reduce viscosity of the liquid substance for recovery.
Ships, not only oil tankers, generally sail with a large amount of liquid substance such as fuel oil loaded in the ships. When, therefore, a ship has encountered marine accidents such as stranding and sinking, it becomes necessary to recover fuel oil or the like from its tank for preventing it from flowing out.
Fuel oil represented by a heavy oil or crude oil, however, tends to be affected by temperature and is brought to a state which is almost solid, for example, in the coldest season or in a low temperature environment of the deep sea. Therefore, when a marine accident has occurred, fuel oil or the like remaining in the ship is recovered after it is heated to flow easily.
In a case where, for example, fuel oil is recovered from a stranded ship, steam or hot water obtained by heating in a boiler is supplied to the tank for heating or a Nichrome (trademark) wire heater is inserted in the tank for heating. In a case where fuel oil is recovered from a ship sunk in the shallow sea, a boiler, a water supply tank and a generator are loaded in a work ship and a hot water hose and a recovery pipe etc. are put down from the work ship to the sunk ship for heating.
A sea area where a ship may be stranded, however, does not allow easy access from the land. Neither is it approached easily from offshore. For this reason, a preparatory work for carrying a large scale heating equipment such as a large boiler to the site where the ship is stranded and installing the equipment there requires an enormous labor and time and, moreover, there are not a few cases where it cannot be installed in the site due to adverse conditions. In a case where it can be installed in the stranded ship or in the vicinity thereof, heating can be made by means of hot water, electric heating, hot blast and the like but in a case where it cannot be installed in the vicinity of the stranded ship, it must be installed on the land at a long distance or the work ship must lie at anchor at a long distance.
When a heat source for heating is installed in a place at a long distance in this manner, hot water or steam must be delivered to the distant site of stranding by using a long hose and, therefore, there occurs a large amount of heat loss on the way and, in some cases, failure in achieving an effective heating. Even when an effect of heating is obtained, if the route for transferring fuel oil or the like taken out of the stranded ship to a recovery tank is long, the fuel oil or the like is cooled on the way and, as a result, there occurs a case where its viscosity increases to such a degree that it will not flow, i.e., it cannot be recovered.
Further, since there is no means for effectively heating the inside of a tank and a hose containing fuel oil or the like from outside thereof, a workman had to place a steam coil, a hot water coil, an electrical heating coil or the like in the tank for heating or he had to blow steam directly for heating. Since the tank of a ship is provided inside with many structures such as a side girder, a bottom longeron and a floor which is a lateral structural member, work for installing the steam coil or the like is troublesome and, in some cases, location thereof is restricted depending upon the inside construction of the tank. The direct blowing of steam also is troublesome because it cannot be performed in one place only. Moreover, work in the tank is dangerous because the stranded ship is in an insecure state and there is also possibility of fire, explosion or gas-poisoning.
In the case of recovering fuel oil or the like from the sunk ship, a hot water hose, a recovery pipe etc. must be put down from the work ship to the sunk ship and these hose and pipe are so thick that a troublesome work is required. Further, since the hose and pipe are affected by a tidal current when they are put down in the sea, work cannot be performed when tidal current is fast. Furthermore, since the hose and pipe are cooled by the sea water when they are put down in the sea, there occurs a large amount of heat loss with the result that there occur a case where the fuel oil or the like to be recovered cannot be heated effectively or a case where viscosity of the fuel oil or the like increases to such a degree that difficulty arises in its flow or it does not flow at all.
For these reasons, when a ship is sunk in the deep sea, an effective recovery cannot be made but the ship is left as it is.
In the case of stranding or sinking of a ship, installation and recovery of a heating equipment and hose etc. take a long time and a periodical visit of bad weather during this time cannot be avoided. For this reason, there are not a few cases where a ship is heavily damaged and all of fuel oil or the like flows out of the ship to cause environmental pollution. In a case where fuel oil or the like which has flowed out and is floating on the sea is recovered by using an oil skimmer, volatile ingredients contained in the fuel oil or the like are volatilized and the fuel oil or the like is cooled down and, therefore, viscosity thereof increases and it becomes difficult to absorb and recover it with the oil skimmer and, in many cases, it actually cannot be absorbed.
In a case where a marine accident has occurred in a chemical tanker or the like storing a chemical substance of a high viscosity, it becomes necessary to recover the chemical substance from a storage tank. In this case also, for the same reason that has been described above, heating cannot be conducted easily. Further, not only in a case where an accident has occurred in ships in general but also in a case where an accident has occurred in facilities located in the sea or on the seaside such as an oil field drilling rig and a crude oil loading and unloading facility, it becomes necessary to quickly recover a liquid substance such as a heavy oil.
The present invention is proposed in the above described circumstances. It is an object of the invention to provide a method for recovering a liquid substance and a device for recovering a liquid substance capable of recovering a liquid substance such as fuel oil from a sunk or stranded ship etc. by heating it more easily than in the past.
The present invention provides a method for recovering a liquid substance characterized by applying a working coil to a liquid substance contacting member which is in contact with the liquid substance and is made of an electric conductor, supplying a high frequency current from a high frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reducing the viscosity of the liquid substance, and recovering this liquid substance through a recovery pipe connected to the pump.
According to this invention, since a working coil is applied to a liquid substance contacting member which is in contact with the liquid substance and is made of an electric conductor, a high-frequency current from a high-frequency inverter unit is supplied to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and viscosity of the liquid substance thereby is reduced, heating can be made with a heat source in contact with an object to be heated. Therefore, heating can be made efficiently without heat loss on the way as in the steam heating and hot blast. Neither is a bulky boiler required nor a broad occupying space is required.
Further, since a steam hose etc. which are troublesome in handling are not required, work efficiency is excellent and saving of labor and significant shortening of work time can be realized. By shortening of work time, work can be performed without being much affected by weather.
Further, in a case where recovery from a sunk ship is made, since a pipe put down from a work ship is only a recovery pipe and heating energy is supplied by an electric wire which is much thinner than a pipe, influence of tidal current can be reduced and interruption time can thereby be reduced. Even in a case where work has to be interrupted, time required for withdrawal is shortened and preparation for resumption of work can be completed in a short period of time because electric wire which is easy to handle is a main item to be handled. Consequently, work efficiency of the entire work can be remarkably improved.
The present invention further provides a method for recovering a liquid substance by constructing at least a part of the recovery pipe with a pipe section made of an electrical conductor and mounting a working coil on an outer peripheral surface of the pipe section made of the electric conductor, supplying a high frequency current to this working coil from the high-frequency inverter unit to cause the pipe section made of the electric conductor itself to generate heat by induction heating to thereby raise the temperature of the liquid substance in the pipe section made of the electric conductor, and recovering the liquid substance.
According to the invention, since at least a part of the recovery pipe is constructed with a pipe section made of an electric conductor, a working coil is mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the pipe section made of the electric conductor, a high-frequency current is supplied to this working coil from the high-frequency inverter unit to cause the pipe section made of the electric conductor itself to generate heat by induction heating to thereby raise the temperature of the liquid substance in the pipe section made of the electric conductor, and the liquid substance is recovered, increase of viscosity of the extracted liquid substance on the way can be certainly prevented and a recovery work can be conducted smoothly in the coldest season.
The present invention further provides a device for recovering a liquid substance characterized by comprising:
a working coil which is mountable on a liquid substance contacting member which is a member of a tank containing a liquid substance is in contact with the liquid substance contained in it or flowing through it and is made of an electric conductor;
a high frequency inverter unit for supplying a high-frequency current to the working coil; and
a recovery pipe which is connected to a pump and is adapted to be connected to the liquid substance contacting member;
a high-frequency current being supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating to thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance, and the liquid substance being recovered through the recovery pipe by operation of the pump.
According to this invention, since a working coil is applied to a liquid substance contacting member which is in contact with the liquid substance and is made of an electric conductor, a high-frequency current from a high-frequency inverter unit is supplied to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and viscosity of the liquid substance thereby is reduced, heating can be made with a heat source in contact with an object to be heated. Therefore, heating can be made efficiently without heat loss on the way as in the steam heating and hot blast. Neither is a bulky boiler required nor a broad occupying space is required.
Further, since a steam hose etc. which are troublesome in handling are not required, work efficiency is excellent and saving of labor and significant shortening of work time can be realized. By shortening of work time, work can be performed without being much affected by weather.
Further, in a case where recovery from a sunk ship is made, since a pipe put down from a work ship is only a recovery pipe and heating energy is supplied by an electric wire which is much thinner than a pipe, influence of tidal current can be reduced and interruption time can thereby be reduced. Even in a case where work has to be interrupted, time required for withdrawal is shortened and preparation for resumption of work can be completed in a short period of time because electric wire which is easy to handle is a main item to be handled. Consequently, work efficiency of the entire work can be remarkably improved.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance wherein the working coil comprises a cylinder case made of a nonmagnetic material and being divided in axial direction and a working coil main body housed in the cylindrical case, said cylindrical case being provided with a hinge in the divided portion to be openable in its side portion and being provided with a closed state maintaining mechanism in its openable divided portion, and the case being adapted to be mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the liquid substance contacting member with the side portion of the case being in an opened state and being maintained in a closed state by means of the closed state maintaining mechanism.
According to the invention, since the working coil comprises a cylindrical case made of a nonmagnetic material and being divided in axial direction and a working coil main body housed in the cylindrical case and said cylindrical case is provided with a hinge in the divided portion to be openable in its side portion and is provided with a dosed state maintaining mechanism in its openable divided portion, the case can be mounted in a simple manner on an outer peripheral side of a pipe section or the like and, therefore, handling becomes easy.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance wherein the working coil comprises a case in the form of a mat which is made of a nonmagnetic and flexible material, a working coil main body housed in the case, and an attaching mechanism for attaching the case to the liquid substance contacting member, the case being applied to a surface of the liquid substance contacting member and attached to the liquid substance contacting member by means of the attaching mechanism.
According to the invention, since the working coil comprises a case in the form of a mat which is made of a nonmagnetic and flexible material, a working coil main body housed in the case, and an attaching mechanism for attaching the case to the liquid substance contacting member, the working coil can be mounted on a curved surface of the liquid substance contacting member even in case the surface is curved. Therefore, a gap between the working coil and the liquid substance contacting member can be reduced and the efficiency of induction heating by the working coil thereby can be improved.
Further, when the working coil is made in the form of a mat, the case in the form of a mat which is made of a nonmagnetic material is covered on the liquid substance contacting member in use and, therefore, a thermal insulation effect for reducing escape of heat of the liquid substance contacting member to the outside can be expected. Accordingly, it contributes to improving efficiency of heating the liquid substance.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance wherein at least a part of the recovery pipe is constructed with a pipe section made of an electric conductor and a working coil is mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the pipe section made of the electrical conductor, a high-frequency current being applied to this working coil from the high-frequency inverter unit to cause the pipe section made of the electric conductor itself to generate heat by induction heating to raise the temperature of the liquid substance in the pipe section made of the electric conductor for recovery of the liquid substance.
According to the invention, since at least a part of the recovery pipe is constructed with a pipe section made of an electric conductor, a working coil is mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the pipe section made of the electric conductor, and a high-frequency current is supplied to this working coil from the high-frequency inverter unit to cause the pipe section made of the electric conductor itself to generate heat by induction heating to raise the temperature of the liquid substance in the pipe section made of the electric conductor for recovery of the liquid substance., troubles which are caused by increase in viscosity of the liquid substance on the way can be eliminated.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance wherein the recovery pipe comprises a temperature raising unit provided in the middle thereof, said temperature raising unit comprising a cylindrical case which is divided in two parts in axial direction, provided with a hinge in the divided portion so that the case is openable in its side portion and provided with a closed state maintaining mechanism in the openable divided portion, a working coil main body housed in the cylindrical case, and a heating member made of an electrical conductor which is provided on a central axis side of the working coil main body, said heating member itself being heated by induction heating by a high frequency current being supplied by the high-frequency inverter unit used to raise the temperature of the liquid substance in the recovery pipe.
According to the invention, since the recovery pipe comprises a temperature raising unit provided in the middle thereof, said temperature raising unit comprising a cylindrical case which is divided in two parts in axial direction, provided with a hinge in the divided portion so that the case is openable in its side portion and provided with a closed state maintaining mechanism in the openable divided portion, a working coil main body housed in the cylindrical case, and a heating member made of an electric conductor which is provided on a central axis side of the working coil main body, said heating member itself can be heated by induction heating by a high-frequency current supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to raise temperature of the liquid substance in the recovery pipe and, therefore, troubles caused by increase in viscosity of the liquid substance on the way can be eliminated.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance wherein:
a working coil which is adapted to be inserted from outside to inside of a liquid substance portioning member which defines a section containing a liquid substance to be recovered;
a high-frequency inverter unit for supplying a high-frequency current to the working coil; and
a recovery pipe connected to a pump,
said working coil being connected to an end portion of the recovery pipe and comprising a cylinder made of an electric conductor which is adapted to be inserted inwardly of an opening formed in the liquid substance portioning member, and a working coil main body wound on a peripheral surface of the cylinder, and
said cylinder being inserted into the section inside of the liquid substance portioning member and used as a liquid substance contacting member, and, in this state, a high-frequency current being supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the cylinder itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance inside, and the liquid substance being recovered through the recovery pipe by operation of the pump.
According to the invention, since the device comprises a working coil which is adapted to be inserted from outside to inside of a liquid substance partitioning member which defines a section containing a liquid substance to be recovered, a high-frequency inverter unit for supplying a high-frequency current to the working coil, and a recovery pipe connected to a pump, the working coil is connected to an end portion of the recovery pipe and comprises a cylinder made of an electric conductor which is adapted to be inserted inwardly of an opening formed in the liquid substance partitioning member, and a working coil main body wound on a peripheral surface of the cylinder, said cylinder is inserted into the section inside of the liquid substance partitioning member and used as a liquid substance contacting member, and, in this state, a high-frequency current is supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the cylinder itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance inside, and the liquid substance which has been made to flow more easily can be recovered through the recovery pipe by operation of the pump, a portion which is absorbed by the recovery pipe can be heated more efficiently for recovery.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance comprising:
a table;
a float which floats on water for floating the table in such a manner that a liquid substance to be recovered flows onto an upper surface of the table;
a liquid substance contacting member made of an electric conductor and provided on the upper surface of the table;
a working coil provided in the table;
a high-frequency inverter unit for supplying a high-frequency current to the working coil; and
a recovery pipe connected to a pump and having an inlet formed in the foremost end portion thereof for sucking in the liquid substance from the table,
a high-frequency current being supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance on the table, and the liquid substance being recovered by sucking in the liquid substance by inlet of the recovery pipe by operation of the pump.
According to the invention, since the device comprises a table, a float which floats on water for floating the table in such a manner that a liquid substance to be recovered flows onto an upper surface of the table, a liquid substance contacting member made of an electric conductor and provided on the upper surface of the table, a working coil provided in the table, a high-frequency inverter unit for supplying a high-frequency current to the working coil, and a recovery pipe connected to a pump and having an inlet formed in the foremost end portion thereof for sucking in the liquid substance from the table, a high-frequency current is supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance on the table, and the liquid substance which has been made to flow more easily can be recovered by sucking in the liquid substance into the inlet of the recovery pipe by operation of the pump, a liquid substance which tends to be solidified while it is floating on the cold sea can be effectively recovered.
In addition, the present invention provides a device for recovering a liquid substance comprising:
a pressure casing;
a pump provided in the pressure casing;
a high-frequency inverter unit provided in the pressure casing;
a pipe constituting a part of a recovery route which is connected to a suction inlet side of the pump and provided in the pressure casing movably in reciprocating motion to and from outside of the pressure casing;
a working coil which is connected to an end portion of the pipe remote from the suction inlet side of the pump and comprises a liquid substance contacting member made of a cylinder of an electric conductor and a working coil main body; and
an opening cutting mechanism which is provided coaxially with the central axis of the working coil and the pipe and has cutting edges adapted to cut an opening having a size which is sufficient for the working coil to move through the opening,
a high-frequency current being supplied from the high-frequency inverter unit to the working coil in a state where the working coil has moved inside of the opening cut by the opening cutting mechanism to cause the liquid substance contacting member itself to generate heat by induction heating and thereby reduce viscosity of the liquid substance, and the liquid substance being recovered by operation of the pump.
According to the invention, since the device comprises a pressure casing, a pump provided in the pressure casing, a high-frequency inverter unit provided in the pressure casing, a pipe constituting a part of a recovery route which is connected to a suction inlet side of the pump and provided in the pressure casing movably in reciprocating motion to and from outside of the pressure casing, a working coil which is connected to the foremost end portion of the pipe and comprises a liquid substance contacting member made of a cylinder of an electric conductor and a working coil main body, and an opening cutting mechanism which is provided coaxially with central axes of the working coil and the pipe and has cutting edges adapted to cut an opening having a size which is sufficient for the working coil to move through the opening, an opening can be cut by the opening cutting mechanism even in the case of a ship sunk in the deep sea and the working coil can be moved inwardly of the opening. Accordingly, viscosity of a liquid substance in the ship sunk in the deep sea can be reduced and this liquid substance can be recovered by operation of the pump.